Theatre Review - Shrapnel: 34 Fragments of a Massacre

In December 2011, thirty-four unarmed Kurdish civilians were killed in an isolated mountain village on the Turkish-Iraqi border. The group of traders and their mules had been picked up by a Predator drone. The Americans passed on the intelligence to the Turkish military who, claiming they were terrorists, gave the order to bomb them. Nineteen of the victims were children. The Roboski massacre is the subject of Anders Lustgarten’s compelling political drama, performed in English with Turkish surtitles.

Matching the number of dead, thirty-four short, fragmented scenes are played out on a traverse stage, bare except for a table and chairs. A huge screen dominates the action, depicting the convoy being followed by military drones. They include diesel smugglers Husnu (Aslam Percival Husain) and his fourteen-year old nephew Savas (Josef Altin). Throughout the play’s seventy-five minutes, the ensemble cast share the names of all thirty-four victims of the aerial bombardment. Some, we learn, were teenagers who had engaged in small-scale smuggling to pay for their education.

We’re also shown an arms manufacturer extolling the virtues and profitability of modern warfare and two workers in an arms factory, seemingly unaware that the devices they construct might kill innocent civilians. Two journalists (both played by Karina Fernandez) offer different perspectives on the massacre; one toes the party line, demonising the Kurdish people, the other attempts to report the truth.

Shrapnel is impressively acted and Mehmet Ergen’s gripping production packs a visceral punch.